Day 21 to 32. Pemberton to Albany
Day 21
-left our (Pemberton) motel around 6.45am to catch breaky at the Hotel (7am)
-ended up leaving Pemby around 7.30am but didn't realise we had to walk roughly the same direction as our motel to get out!
-a few KMs out of town we came across the Gloucester Tree - a very tall Karri tree with stakes inserted in the bark up its length to climb! Pretty wild really...I think it will be regulated in the future for sure!
-we then went onto Warren Hut (20km), filled up with water and kept going to try and have a swim and lunch at a bridge which never really happened...
-kept going onto Schafer hut (another 20km) and got there around 4pm
-A woman, Suzie was in the hut and doing the Munda Biddy. She had walked the Bibb E2E a couple of years earlier.
-the mozzies were ravenous - slept maybe 3 hours very uncomfortably listening to their attacking whines...head net sort of did its job but it was a very warm night and to stay in our sleeping bags meant we sweated alot! Not pleasant at all
Day 22
- eager to get up and get going away from the mozzies we left Schafer around 7.45am
- it was a beautiful 14km walk into Northcliffe - got there around 10am (record time!)
- had a big burger early lunch at the local cafe, charged our phones at the info centre (very quaint little spot), picked up our parcel at the post office (open till 12.30 on a Saturday), did our resup shop at the general store and dried out our gear.
- we found out about a diversion coming up (Lake Maringup) with changed our plans again slightly... unfortunately I didn't take this into account for my food resup so carrying too much food again
- left around 12.30 for the 15km walk to Gardner Hut
- very flat and sandy walk
- arrived at Gardner by 4pm to 2 other groups in the hut, so we tarped again
- mozzies weren't as bad as we were expecting and also we had a mozzie coil to burn - worked well!
Day 23
- left around 7.30 after speaking to the boys
- jo and Lance had left a long time before us...at least an hour beforehand
- walk was nice - mainly along sandy flat roads
- we stopped at a bridge for an hour around 9.30 to dry out all our gear from last night (tarp and groundsheet)
- we then kept following the Rd as per the diversion (Lake Maringup closed due to the water). We moved quickly!
- once we reached the end of the diversion we followed the Bib track for about 100m and decided that we didn't want to get our feet wet when there was a perfectly dry road that would take us a majority of the way to the next hut!
- so we doubled back, had lunch then set off along the road again. It really did get quite boring after a while...
- we joined back on around 9km from the camp
- we only had 2 real water crossings this day but we took our shoes off for both! Worked ok but took time..
- quite a pretty walk once back on the Bib though flat marsh woodlands
- got to camp (33ish-km) at 3.30pm to find Jo and Lance had just beaten us! They were so unsure about themselves doing a big day but they did it with no troubles
- had a swim in the beautiful 'pool', lit a campfire for the last time and enjoyed the company of our fellow hikers
- dog pool hut is probably my 2nd favourite hut so far
Day 24
- woke up to 2 holes in my pack and a nibble out of my wraps!! The hooks aren't great in the clay huts - often around the edges where little creatures can reach...and I didn't have the wrap breads Double zip locked so they would've smelt delicious...Riley managed to patch both holes, hopefully they hold out
- left Dog Pool at 7.15am (a bit late due to our mouse surprise) for 19.5km to Mt Chance.
- the walk was good, flat and I managed to avoid water (unlike Riley)
- the pingerup plains are quite beautiful
- got to Mt chance around 11, had some lunch and climbed the rock behind the hut for views (quite lovely!)
- I was just really really tired - all my lower body just felt sore and tired even though it wasn't a hard walk
- the next stretch to Woolbales (20.5km) was alot slower, I developed shin pain early in and the water wading was a lot more effort!
- still quite a pretty walk but painfully slow...
- got to camp around 5pm to meet Paul. He set up his tent once we arrived - he prefers the solitude (a bit like us!)
Day 25
- woke and got going early again
- going to Mt Clare today (via long point) and considered even getting to town...
- my leg was fine!
- we had more wading to do today before we got to the beach yay!! It was a beautiful and welcome sight!
- saw a strange grey snake by the beach with an apricot band in the middle...we think it was a baby dugite
- hot day today - got to Long Point Hut at 11 30 and stayed for a bit to dry our shoes out in the good hot sun. Was a lovely hut - would've been nice to stay
- probably one of the best scenery days, just beautiful coastline landscape and then forest in the afternoon climbing to Mt Clare
- Riley had a nap at the hut (was a bit tired...)
- our legs got minced by these spikey bushes on our way to Mt Clare! Scratched to buggery!
- got to Mt Clare and decided to stay (not to go into town till the morning)
- we had it to ourselves at last so we had a well needed bird bath.
Day 26
- left for town! Looking forward to our bacon egg roll and coffee awaiting...
- nice 10km walk down to Walpole, lovely scenery and big trees
- got to town at 8.30
- had breaky #2, then dropped our bags at accommodation and dis our resup, package pickup and breaky #3 at a cafe while we waited for our room to be ready
- showered, washed etc, posted stuff home, went to pub early
- had to sprint home after dinner due to the absolutely pouring rain!!! It was mental!! Felt lucky we were out in it for the night.
Day 27
- Left Walpole after a measly breakie at 8.30
- got to Frankland River Hut around 11.30 for lunch - was a shame it wasn't warm, the river was spectacular! Wouldve been a nice hut to stay in...
- kept going onto Giants Hut (in the Valley of the Giants (Tingle Trees)) but stopped in at the Giants Walk, 1km from the hut
- the Ranger let us in for free - a 650m walk along an upsidedown suspension bridge that went as high as 40m so you could see and experience the heights of the large trees!
- arrived at giants hut to meet Derek who had an interesting life of aid work.
- it was pouring all evening and night. (31km)
Day 28
- headed for peaceful bay today via Rame Head
- a nice walk through the Tingles and eventually back to the beach side
- Rame head hut had great views
- shame we weren't staying there...
- peaceful bay and the coastline beforehand were beautiful to walk along, the only thing that was becoming increasingly difficult were the ups and downs of the sand dune pathways...these were really slowing us down!
- we made peaceful bay caravan park in good time though (only a 28km day though...), by 3.30pm
- set up tarp in a secluded area out the back in a nice patch of grass then went to explore the food
- we had warm showers while waiting for our fish and chips pickup at 5pm
- had a nice evening listening to music, making a small fire and eating yummy food
Day 29
- sleep was the best so far! Sleeping on soft grass really made the difference!
- got going around 7.30 to walk the 7km to the canoe inlet crossing (Irwin Inlet)
- we just got there as two ladies were hopping out of their canoes on the other side. We had none on our side so had to wait for them to bring more across.
- took off our shoes and paddled across in 2 seperate canoes (weight limit) which was super fun and challenging due to the strong wind and rain
- once we got to the other side we then attached a canoe to each of ours and bought them across to the other shed so that we left 3 on either side
- we got going and eventually caught up to the ladies, it was a nice easy walk through green hills covered in fireweed
- we had planned to get to Boat Harbour hut for lunch but there was more sand walking than was anticipated so we stopped on some rocks for lunch instead about 8km from the hut
- we finally got to the hut around 2pm (the canoe took a bit of time that morning)
- had a small rest then kept going to Parry's inlet campground
- although only 11km away it was hard along the small ups and downs of the sandy trails and to compound things it started to pour rain
- it had been drizzling all day forcing us to stop multiple times throughout the day to put on raincoats then take them off again when the drizzle stopped and we started to sweat
- we finally got to Parry's at about 4.30pm, drenched, sandy, freezing cold and myself in not so good spirits
- thankfully we found a picnic shelter which we commandeered for the night, close by to the much needed hot showers to warm us up
- the mozzies were rife but nothing the coil couldn't handle
- to lift our morale we ate a double meal each knowing we could get more if needed.
Day 30
- town today! Denmark.
- left at 7am and found the crossing of Parry's inlet to be some of the easiest walking yet! We crossed no water and the hard compact sand made walking a dream
- we walked the 7km of beach then ascended a hill to the next hut. Quick walking - took 1.5hours to do 10km!
- we met the Life of Py (Mark) at the hut but quickly kept going, Riley certain we would make a pub lunch!
- the walk was actually turning out to be one of the best walking days, beautiful scenery, not such hard sandy hills
- we walked into the Denmark Half Marathon and were greeted by a coffee van which we happily took advantage of as we waited for the runners to subside
- only 15km to Denmark to go we kept going but with less urgency after our coffee, cake and salami lunch
- we headed up Mt Halowell for spectacular views
- got slightly lost on the way down but bushbashed back to the track where some nice German tourists waited for us
- took a wrong turn at the bottom as well, following a falsely similar marker to the Bib track woggle
- finally on the right track we followed the 5km town track (rather boring) into Denmark
- we checked into the Bluebird YHA, ate at the famous bakery, did our food resup, visited an Aboriginal art display, did washing/dried shoes then headed to the Tavern for dinner where we had an all you can eat roast dinner buffet - Riley almost died from overstuffing!
- it was a shame the rest of the track towns didn't have an IGA like Denmark - it had by far the best selection of foods which we didn't need much of since we were only planning to be on the track for a further 2 days!
Day 31
- Riley's bday!
- our lift across Wilson's Inlet was scheduled for 8am so we were up early to get a bday breaky before.
- I carried a bottle of wine (poured into a water bottle), cheese, apple pies and cream for Rileys birthday dinner.
- we stayed at Torbay hut and met more E2E'ers (Gandalf and Pixie). What is it about hikers and instant connection?
- we spent dinner alone at the table on the hill overlooking the ocean. Absolutely fantastic.
Day 32
-Walk into Albany.
-some nice track with difficult sand.
-tough road walk into Albany.
-compulsory photos at the terminus, rang the bell at the info centre and strangely it was all over.
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